The First Nation communities in and around Yale say that the Yale and District Historical Society (YDHS) needs to return the Indigenous artifacts back to the Yale Historic Site’s museum.
In a joint, open, letter to YDHS, the Chiefs of Spuzzum, Yale, Boston Bar, and Chawathil First Nations said they are disappointed in the actions and decisions made by YDHS after being removed as the managers of Yale Historic Site (YHS).
Specifically, the leaders said on Friday (May 12) that they are “surprised and dismayed” by the YDHS’s decision to remove Indigenous artifacts from the museum at YHS — which, according to them, was done without Indigenous consultation or the permission of their communities.
Furthermore, YDHS does not own the Indigenous artifacts donated to the museum, said the leaders, and the artifacts need to be returned to the museum immediately.
“Removing our Ancestors artifacts is not the way forward and we once more ask that YDHS return them immediately and engage with us in a meaningful way and give us a voice in the management of this very special site in the heart of the Yale First Nation’s traditional and unceded territory,” said the leaders. “We are willing to meet with you and the other parties to find a solution at any time. We thank you for the nearly 40 years of care you have shown the site and the museum’s artifacts and hope you will return to your past practices so all can share the stories that these objects help to tell.”
READ MORE: Yale & District Historical Society no longer to manage Yale Historic Site
Signed by Yale Chief Ken Hansen, Spuzzum Chief James Hobart, Chawathil Chief Norman Florence, and Boston Bar Chief Pam Robertson, the letter also stressed the communities’ concerns that their, “living, sacred objects will be subject to damage and deterioration wherever they are being stored” and that placing “the works of [their] Ancestors in wooden sheds or storage containers is to bury them out of sight, which was not the intention of [their] Peoples” when the items were loaned to YDHS.
The letter also mentioned that local First Nations involved with YHS had met with YDHS (as well as Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), Heritage Branch of B.C., the New Pathways to Gold Society, and MLA Jackie Tegart) at the Boston Bar longhouse, on May 5, in order to encourage the society to find a way to move forward. The meeting was organized by Hobart and hosted by Boston Bar.
Spuzzum First Nation also released a press release on Friday addressing their concerns on the situation. In it, Hobart said that all parties need to work together “in partnership and that a new governance model is required to administer the site.”
He also clarifed his position on Forager Foundation becoming the new managers of YHS, and said he was notified, by the province, about the Request for Proposal (RFP) process in December 2022 “but was hoping more fulsome consultation would have been possible.”
At the same time, Hobart said that “the first Spuzzum First Nation heard of the process was when YDHS informed him it had not been the successful proponent two weeks ago.”
“We were disappointed that YDHS did not reach out to us and engage us in a meaningful way to assist them with their application,” he said. “There is the larger, ongoing question of the need for greatly enhanced displays and interpretation of Indigenous artifacts and the telling of our stories at the Yale Historic Site.”
READ MORE: YDHS will not sell or rent museum collection to Forager Foundation
In response to the joint open letter, YDHS issued an apology on Saturday (May 13) for the distress, hurt and misunderstandings caused by their actions — especially with regards to the removal of Indigenous artifacts.
They also said they “are ready to begin a consultation” about returning the Indigenous artifacts to the museum.
“Although we have transported some shed-like structures to our property, these are only being used to store practical items owned by the Society (such as outdoor chairs and tables) not museum items and artifacts,” said Karen Rushlow, the president of YDHS in the response. “Insulated storage containers were obtained, to ensure that items are stored safely and securely. We have held consultations with our membership, including our members from First Nations, although we appreciate that this does not stand in place of official consultation with your leadership.
“At a meeting of the general membership on April 16, a number of concerns were voiced – including by some of our First Nations members who had entrusted baskets to us – about the care of the items being left in unknown hands, if they stayed in the museum.”
According to YDHS, the artifacts were removed after failing to receive a satisfactory and forthcoming answer from Heritage Branch about Forager’s “experience and vision for the site, in order to help assuage our concerns regarding the care of the artifacts [they] are stewards of.” They said they also hadn’t received any communication from Forager and still haven’t to this day.
This, prompted by concern from their membership, caused them to remove the items from the museum, said Rushlow, and “although the Society was disappointed by the result of the RFP,” their disappointment “was not the motivation behind the decision to remove artifacts from the museum.”
When the Standard last spoke to Forager, they said they hadn’t been contacted by YDHS since winning the contract.
YDHS also apologized for appearing to not be engaged with the First Nation communities in and around Yale, during the RFP process. Considering how much work they still needed to do — especially with regards to rebuilding relationships with First Nation neighbours — they said it felt like “inappropriate timing to contact First Nations neighbours about joint working and consultation at the time of the contract tender.
“We appreciate that from your point of view, this could easily have appeared to be a lack of engagement on our part, but we would like to assure you that this was not the case in spirit, even whilst we acknowledge that our actions may have fallen short,” Rushlow said.
YDHS also said that they tried to reach Hobart throughout the RFP application period but were unable to get a hold of him or receive a response.
On April 20, YDHS informed the public that Heritage Branch had rejected their application, to re-tender their contract to manager YHS, and instead had given the contract to Forager — a Canadian nonprofit. YDHS, who’ve managed the site for 40 years, said they had a “good faith agreement” to continue managing YHS after the B.C government bought it for $1 a few years ago. However, at the end of 2022, YDHS was asked to re-tender their contract. A few weeks later, Heritage Branch rejected their application.
As of May 1, YDHS has removed the items they own from the site which included a few buildings. In previous press releases, the society said they owned 95 per cent of the artifacts and items in the site.
The joint open letter from the chiefs, as well as YDHS’s letter responding to them, will be available in full in this week’s paper.
READ MORE: YDHS removes all items and buildings they own from Yale Historic Site
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